Yes. In fact this is a notable problem in cargo ships. The holds can be 100% devoid of oxygen as rust creation removed it all. Thing is, you don’t get the warning of the lack of oxygen as that warning in your brain is tied to there being too much carbon dioxide. But there isn’t too much carbon dioxide, there is simply no oxygen. So you just pass out and asphyxiate.
Many people have died this way, sometimes chains of people as they go to investigate why the first person didn’t come back.
Edit: Smarter Every Day did a video on pilots losing oxygen and what that does to your thought process. In that video, he goes into a nitrogen hypobaric gas chamber and is unable to even put on a mask to save his life, all while being 100% certain at the time he was fine.
Yes. In fact this is a notable problem in cargo ships. The holds can be 100% devoid of oxygen as rust creation removed it all. Thing is, you don’t get the warning of the lack of oxygen as that warning in your brain is tied to there being too much carbon dioxide. But there isn’t too much carbon dioxide, there is simply no oxygen. So you just pass out and asphyxiate.
Many people have died this way, sometimes chains of people as they go to investigate why the first person didn’t come back.
Edit: Smarter Every Day did a video on pilots losing oxygen and what that does to your thought process. In that video, he goes into a
nitrogenhypobaric gas chamber and is unable to even put on a mask to save his life, all while being 100% certain at the time he was fine.